That's Just Weird...

Chaye recently had her check-up and shots to register for Kindergarten. She had to pee in a cup (never had one of the kids do that before!) and as I held the cup for her she said, "Okay, THIS is weird." I had to tell her to stop going before the cup overflowed onto my hand! When we got back into the exam room she told the doctor in a giggle, "I can't believe you have to test pee. That's just weird." She had to have four shots on Friday, and we had to go back on Monday for a TB skin test. She didn't NOT want to do this, so I offered to get a TB test as well, and she could see how brave I was. (Yeah, I'm so brave I have to look the other way when they put the needle in!) Well, she ended up hiding behind the exam table, so it will probably be a wasted $100 for me when I get the bill. Ryan held her for both appointments, and I thank him greatly for taking time off from work to be there with us because I don't like to hold the kids down for shots. Babies I can handle, but once they can yell out, "Mom! Why are you doing this to me?!?!" I just don't do that well.

Chaye constantly says the funniest things. She has the vocabulary, wit, sarcasm and humor that is equal to or above most adults. (You can thank both of her parents for the sarcasm!) Her Kindergarten teacher is going to be in for a surprise! Here's a funny conversation we had recently:

CHAYE: I think I need a haircut... what about you?
CHANNA: Yeah, I think you need one.
CHAYE: No, I mean, do you think you need a haircut?
CHANNA: Yeah, I probably should.
CHAYE: Well, I sure hope your butt fits in the chair.

I don't take offense to this because the shop we go to has a little kid chair with a metal bar in between the legs so they don't fall out. It's quite apparent that my butt would not fit in the chair, however, I'm so glad she was concerned for my butt's welfare. :)

Another thing she did recently: Our RS president chose a slightly annoying Primary song as the closing song at Enrichment Night. It was the kind of song that gets stuck in your head, very similar to the Barney "I Love You" song. I couldn't get it out of my mind and it was driving me nuts! I fell asleep singing it in my head, so of course it was incorporated into my dreams. The next morning when I woke up, stupid me thought to myself, "Oh! Yay! I can't remember the song!" And then it came to me. So I was telling this to the RS president, who is a very good friend of mine. Then she couldn't get the song out of her mind. I'd call her at work throughout the day and when she answered the phone I'd start singing it just to get it in her mind again, as payback for the insanity she'd put me through. So later on Chaye was telling me about the dream she had. Then she asked me what my dream was about. I told her I didn't remember. She said, "Oh I know what it was... it was about...." And then she sang that song and started laughing!!!! So then the song was in my head again and she thought that was hilarious!
(And of course I'm singing it in my head again now that I've written about it....aaaaggghhhh!!!!)

Happy "Leaf Day"

Someone finally found the pot at the end of the rainbow!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Chaye calls it "Leaf Day" because I have a shamrock icon on the date square on the calendar. When she was anticipating Valentine's Day, which has a heart, she kept asking, "How many days until Heart Day?" The Thursday before Feb 14th, when she asked me, I said "Two days." Then she jumped up and down and said, "Then we get to celebrate Leaf Day!" I asked, "Leaf Day? What's that?" And she turned the calendar page and pointed at the shamrock. Then she asked, "What happens on Leaf Day? Do we get stuff?" (Hmm.... get stuff, get pinched; get stuff, get pinched; I like her idea better!) So I got her a Tinkerbell Look & Find Book (I collect those) because it's green. I'll give it to her tonight at dinner - we're having green salad, green fettucini alfredo with broccoli, and mint chip mud pie for dessert. And I had to get her a green shirt because she didn't have one and was terrified that Paige was going to pinch her. I didn't get anyone else anything..... oh well, they'll survive. :)

Imaginary Friends...

This took place on January 8th. Chaye informed me that it was her "friend" Brenda's birthday and we needed to make a cake. Brenda is an imaginary friend. Chaye has lots of imaginary friends, teachers, ballet classes, life experiences, etc. I decided to indulge her and possibly score some "good mom points" on the side. Of course Chaye wanted to make the cake all by herself.

First she stirred all the ingredients.


Then she used the mixer... very carefully!


She probably used way too much PAM, but oh well.


"I'm a very good pourer, aren't I, Mom?"


Everyone knows this is the best part.


"Pink cake with pink frosting, because pink is Brenda's favorite color."


"Don't lick the bumpy side of the knife, Mom, or it will cut your tongue."


"Ta-Daaaahhhh! Can we do candles, too?"


Apparently this was Brenda's 4th birthday. Yes, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Brenda, and Chaye blew out the candle. (Triple points for me for singing along.)


Cade benefits from imaginary friends' birthdays, too.


Making her day scored me the most points of all!

Chaye was very happy to share her cake with her siblings as an after-school snack. Jaise realized that it was Chaye's 1/2 birthday that day.... what a coincidence!

Young Men vs. Men Turkey Bowl Nov 2008

Little Miss Chaye

Chaye was invited to go see High School Musical 3 with Kaelyn and Alyssa at the movie theater.... without mom or dad.... and she loved it! Thank you , Kaelyn, for inviting her. We hope you had a great 4th birthday in Madera!

On the way to the movies....

At the movie theater....

Chaye's primary teacher gets to hear lots of funny things during class, because as we all know, Sunbeams have a lot to say. Here's her blog post about last Sunday's class.

"My sunbeams are always saying and doing the silliest things. Here are today's funnies:

1. Alyssa said the opening prayer. She prayed that the lesson would go by quickly, so that we could then play games and have fun.

2. I was teaching about Christ on the fishing boat in the Sea of Galilee when the storm came and he calmed the water--you know the one. When I mentioned "boat" and "storm", one of my little ones chimed in, "Oh, that's what happened in 'Ariel', too!!"

3. I showed the children a picture of the Christus--the one on Temple Square. "Who is this?" I asked them. One child exclaimed, "Liberty!". No it's not the Statue of Liberty, but good guess. Any other guesses?...

4. Chaye was trying very hard to write her name. She couldn't get it just right--she wrote down an A and a Y and an E. Another child in the class wanted to be helpful so she wrote down a few more letters on Chaye's paper--another A and an H.This made Chaye very upset. She said, "I already had an A. My name doesn't have two A's.!Now it spells DUMB!"

I love teaching Sunbeams! They sure know how to entertain me."

Chaye really likes you, Sister Hyer..... keep up the good work! It takes a very special person to be with a whole bunch of 4- & 5-year olds each Sunday. You are an angel!

Fresh Eggs

Building the chicken coop.
We've been told our chickens are really spoiled!

We did end up eating two roosters.

Our very first egg!

"Can I have some privacy, please?"

Our egg container never goes empty.
Just about six months to the day, we got our first eggs. Ryan was working in the backyard and the hens started making these noises - like they were in labor. He went to check it out and we had our first batch of freshly laid eggs! And the cool thing was that they laid them in the boxes Ryan built for them. How in the world does a chicken know to fly up into a box to lay an egg??? Weird! Most of our eggs are pinkish to brownish in color, sometimes with speckles, and one lays sky blue eggs - way cool! We've had a few double-yolks, which are much bigger eggs than single-yolks. It is so nice to never be out of eggs, to not have to buy them anymore, and a fresh omelet or scrambled egg sure tastes good in the morning. Chaye has a little basket and everyday she goes into the coop to collect the eggs - six eggs a day if they all cooperate. A couple weeks ago Chaye ruffled up the one rooster we have left and he came after her. Ryan was on the coop roof putting the rest of the shingles on and had to jump down to save her. Now she's afraid to collect eggs, but she'll get over it at some point. The hens all lay their eggs in one corner on the coop floor and use the boxes to sleep at night. We highly recommend "growing" your own fresh eggs!

All six hens take turns laying their daily egg in this corner.

We forgot to collect for a few days - 18 eggs today!

Partners in Crime

Chaye has recruited Cade to be her donut partner in crime!

Happy 4th Birthday, Chaye!

Little Miss Chaye loved her birthday. Weeks before she would tell anyone who would listen that her birthday was "Tuesday, July 8th, and I'll be four." Then she would hold up four fingers. She doesn't have any friends her age, so when we asked her who she wanted to invite to her birthday party, she named off our friends and their kids.... the ward family she's grown up with and is used to, really. So they were all invited to a BBQ and swim party in our friends' backyard. (Thanks, Ryan & Jan - you're awesome!) Chaye is so easy to please, that someone could have given her a stick in a box and she would have thought it was the greatest gift on earth. She sure is a sweetheart... when she wants to be! Chaye is a huge ice cream fan but does not like cake (weird, we know!) so I didn't feel the urge to bake anything fancy. She told me what kind to make, what color frosting, and which sprinkles to put on. On the way to the party her gifts toppled over in the back of the vehicle and landed in the frosting. Someone who likes cake would have cared, but she didn't and neither did we!

Donuts, Anyone?

Chaye loves donuts! She is the donut queen and could eat them all day, for every meal, if we'd let her. We always know when she's snuck into the box, too, because the evidence is all over her face.

E.T.

I put Cade in his crib to see if he might take a nap. I turned on the toy thing with lights and music and he was cooing and talking to himself and just as content as can be. I went to the kitchen to do some dishes, and a few minutes later Chaye announced, "Don't worry, I put Cade down for a nap."

I said, "Oh, that's a nice big-sister thing to do."

And then I realized that "the voice" in my head was speaking very slowly and warped, (like in the old days when we'd play a cassette tape and the tape player ate the tape while it was playing... remember that sound?) So, "the voice" is saying, "I.... don't.... think.... that's.... a.... good.... idea...." And finally my brain kicked in and I realized I'd better go check on Cade and see what Chaye did to him.

This is how I found him:

Kind of reminds me of that scene in the movie "E.T."